Is it possible to set the root directory of a node module?

Question

If I publish a node module with source files in a src directory, and people would like to import a file in their project, they would need to specify the full path from the module.

Example:

Structure:

my-module
--src
----index.js
----something-else.js

package.json :

{
  "name": "my-module",
  "root": "src/index.js"
}

Implementation:

import myModule from 'my-module';
import somethingElse from 'my-module/src/something-else';

(or using require )

var myModule = require('my-module');
var somethingElse = require('my-module/src/something-else');

Is there any way to set up the package so that it knows src is my sources root, allowing users to require somethingElse with my-module/something-else ?

If this isn't possible, would it be a good/bad idea to pull the files out of src on prepublish?

Answer 1

From my experience, what is typically done in this instance is either:

1. Have a something-else.js file in the root which contains only require('src/something-else'); Users can then just require('my-module/something-else'); In this case you have a nicer API which means any changes to your directory structure in future wouldn't break your users code. ie you might move something-else to my-module/other-sources/something-else and you need only change the root file and your users code will still work.
2. You create a core my-module which requires everything that your module has available and users can then choose which part of the module via myModule.somethingElse

Otherwise, I haven't come across a method to set the sources root explicitly. That option could be handy though if it does exist.

Answer 2

Possible solutions

The Alias

1. Install the module-alias package:

    npm i --save module-alias

2. Add paths to your package.json like this:

    { "_moduleAliases": { "@lib": "app/lib", "@models": "app/models" } }

3. In your entry-point file, before any require() calls:

    require('module-alias/register')

4. You can now require files like this:

    const Article = require('@models/article');

Reference :: https://gist.github.com/branneman/8048520